A Cabin Full of Food by Marie Beausoleil could have been reviewed in my food preservation and storage book review post. While I fully agree with investing in a fully stocked pantry, I also believe that our best preparedness tool is our lifestyle. This off-grid author focuses not only on preparedness, but on a lifestyle of simple, local, sustainable living. I really like that. The author admits that this book is not geared toward beginners, and it's what I would call next-step information for those of us wanting to further develop our skills as well as our pantries.

The introduction includes a harvest and preservation calendar plus an extensive glossary of terms. The first section is "Make Your Own," and details things like vanilla bean syrup, lemon curd for short term canning, and how to make a ginger bug and fermented ginger beer. "Herbs and Spices" lists a well-stocked spice shelf and includes recipes for making your own allspice, pickling spice, seasoned salt, etc. "Grains" covers a variety of grains and how to store long term, plus recipes such as a mixed coffee substitute and war yeast bread. "Vegetables" has intriguing recipes such as Mixed Vegetable Cake, Rumblethump, and a vegetable spread to can. Then there's "Legumes," "Dairy and Eggs," "Trees and Fruit," and "Meat," and that's just the tip of this 349-page iceberg. Currently available from Amazon.com.

Some of you might already be familiar with Tammy Trayer through her podcasts and webinars. Being a bibliophile myself, this is more up my alley. How To Embrace An Off-Grid Lifestyle begins by telling her story, discusses what it means to live off the grid, and then helps the reader evaluate whether the lifestyle is right for them. She looks at evaluating property, how to begin, and how to evaluate your current power consumption. The chapters which follow discuss everything you need to consider: tools, heating, water, sewage, appliances, laundry, cooking, baking, food growing and foraging, food preservation and storage, living without refrigeration, sickness and injury, protection, plus phone and internet. Finances, budget, and making money while homesteading round out this excellent book.

The Back To Basics Bundle will be available through January 22 and includes 73 homesteading, simple living, and preparedness resources, plus about a dozen bonus offers. You can choose online access to download the bundle for $29.97, the flash (thumb aka USB) drive option for $54.97, or both for $59.97 (one for you and the other as a gift).

BONUS: If you buy the bundle through my blog, I'll gift you with your choice of one eVolume from my The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos. After you place your order simply email me at 5acresandadream @ mail. com, and let me know which one you'd like. I'll send you a link to download a free copy.

Tomorrow I'll review three books in the categories of DIY and frugal living.

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5 Acres & A Dream. The dream has always been to live close to the land. The 5 acres came in 2009, when my husband Dan and I bought a neglected 1920s-built bungalow on 5 acres. The goal is simpler, sustainable, more self-reliant living, and a return to agrarian values.

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"I believe that this contest between industrialism and agrarianism now defines the most fundamental human difference, for it divides not just two nearly opposite concepts of agriculture and land use, but also two nearly opposite ways of understanding ourselves, our fellow creatures, and our world.

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